This application relates to a permanent magnet flux regulated motor, wherein no sensor is necessary to provide position feedback of the location of the rotor.
In the field of electric motors, permanent magnet motors are known, as are motors utilizing coils for their rotors. Recently, a permanent magnet brushless motor design has been developed, which uses direct flux regulation to provide better control. The stator may include slots which are closed by ferromagnetic wedges. The wedges are provided with control coils fed with current. By controlling the current through the control coils, the overall magnetic flux can be controlled.
To use the overall control of magnetic flux, precise position feedback for the permanent magnet rotor is required. A sensor could be provided; however, a sensor would add to the cost and weight.
Various sensorless control techniques are known, such as detection of back EMF, detection of the stator third harmonic voltage, and detection of the conducting interval of free-wheeling diodes connected in antiparallel with solid state switches.
Another method of sensorless control is to sense the inductance variation along the quadrature and direct axes, known as the d and q axes. The direct axis is the center axis of the poles of the permanent magnets, while the quadrature axis is shifted by 45°. Co-pending application Ser. No. 12/100,452, filed Apr. 10, 2008 and entitled Direct Flux Regulated Permanent Magnet Brushless Motor Utilizing Sensorless Control discloses such a method.